UNC Essays!!

1200 words maximum WTF!

damn, that's a lot of words

They should also ask... "explain any sick days you took and why... taking particular care to explain unscheduled vacation"... Come on... they ask way too much in that question.

i took only a sick-day only once in 6 years... I would not have much to write about... hahah

Actually no, its not more comprehensive. Thats what you should be answering for all the career progression questions - including why school X, and how it relates.

Yeah... it will give the opp to pump the specific aspects of their program that are appealing to me.

I'm having some serious issues with UNC essay 2:

Describe the major obstacles or challenges you have faced in pursuit of your goals. Tell us how you addressed these challenges and how they have shaped you. (800 words maximum)

Maybe its just that I believe that my challenges are nothing compared to what a lot of other people have to endure, but I just can't seem to get this essay off the ground.. any suggestions for ways to approach it?

Well, there is almost anything that fits here.

Is what you do now what you wanted to do? Did you major in X but ended up in Y? Did you want to get a job in Z but ended up in Q? How have you tried to move to Q?

This doesnt have to be a story about how your mom died when you were six and you became a prostitute to support yourself, it just has to be about what you want to do and how it's been challenging to go there. Don't worry if its not something that makes them cry.

Hey, who told you about me being a prostitute?!

I know, and I guess that I have one major personal incident (death of father) and one major professional obstacle that I had to overcome to get where I am today. I am reluctant to play the father card for two reasons:

1. I dont like to talk about it
2. I'm afraid that it'll come across as playing too much on the heartstrings.

oops, I posted elsewhere on this one before I found this thread.

I agree with Rhym on the career question - it's what they all ask for, UNC is just more explicit and gives you the room to address it.

And I also struggled with the challenges question; still am to be honest.

I would like to organize more according to a few goals - maybe a professional one and something more personal. And then spend most of my time talking about the challenge and how it affected me. It seems a better way to organize the essay, especially if you don't have some general, all-encompassing challenge to write about. YOu know, your prostitution issues or something along those lines.

how did you guys do with it, since I see that you are way ahead of me on this one?

I grew up in poverty and I have a health condition that was alot to overcome.